The new arena, to be used primarily for men’s and women’s basketball and campus events, will replace the existing Cole Field House and will be the first significant building in the university’s North Campus district.
Its hilltop location will provide views of the central campus. The facility will contain a special seating section for students, private suites and an intimate seating bowl designed to promote a festive college basketball atmosphere. There will be more restrooms and concessions than at Cole, plus a prominent team store.
“Our mandate is to retain all the glory and tradition of Cole Field House, while offering modern amenities to Terps fans,” said Brad Clark, lead designer for Ellerbe Becket. Clark also was lead designer on MCI Center, new home of Washington’s NBA Wizards, WNBA Mystics and NHL Capitals.
The new building will include an academic support and career development center, wrestling and training facilities, offices and locker rooms for other intercollegiate sports. The building also will house a large practice gym.
“This is a great partnership,” said Ed Kohls of Design Collective. “Our firm, with many University of Maryland School of Architecture graduates, has a tremendous interest in continuing the high quality of architectural design and campus planning promoted on the campus. We assembled a team representing Ellerbe Becket’s national sports experience and combined it with Design Collective’s academic experience.”
Other current Ellerbe Becket collegiate projects include new arenas at the universities of Miami and Missouri, renovation of the Haas Pavilion arena at the University of California at Berkeley, and the Thomas and Mack Center at UNLV. In 1997 Ellerbe Becket completed Notre Dame Stadium’s renovation, which added 20,000 seats and preserved the historical features of the legendary stadium.
Design Collective is a multidisciplinary design firm with significant academic projects underway at five University of Maryland campuses. One of Baltimore’s largest firms, Design Collective internationally provides architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture and graphic design.
An innovator since its founding in 1909, Ellerbe Becket provides integrated architecture, engineering and construction services from 12 office locations worldwide. Ellerbe Becket currently is ranked the country’s second largest architecture and engineering firm by Building Design & Construction.
